Former Chilean leader Bachelet seeking presidential comeback

March 27, 2013|Reuters

* Polls show Bachelet favored to win in November

* Two former ministers jostling to be right-wing candidates

* Education, wages set to dominate campaigning

By Alexandra Ulmer

SANTIAGO, March 27 (Reuters) - Former Chilean PresidentMichelle Bachelet ended months of speculation late on Wednesdayby announcing she will run in a November presidential electionthat she is favored to win.

A popular center-leftist who ruled the copper-exportingnation from 2006 to 2010, Bachelet will likely face a candidatefrom the right-wing bloc of President Sebastian Pinera, who isbarred from seeking a consecutive term under the constitution.

Front-runners for the ruling coalition's candidacy arecharismatic businessman and former Public Works MinisterLaurence Golborne and former Defense Minister Andres Allamand, aseasoned politician.

"I've taken some time to think about this decision ... Andwith happiness, with determination and much humility, I've takenthe decision to be a (presidential) candidate," Bachelet said tocheers during a speech in Santiago, days after she quit her jobas the head of U.N. Women.

Bachelet's return after months of speculation is a greatrelief to her fractured left-wing coalition, which Pinera oustedfrom a 20-year rule. She is expected to face little competitionin the primaries.

Bachelet, a pediatrician-turned-politician, was one ofChile's most popular presidents.

Her high-profile U.N. post and time away from local politicshave boosted her popularity, political analysts say, and opinionpolls show her with a wide lead over other potential candidates.

In a poll published in January by local pollster CEP, 49percent of those surveyed said they wanted Bachelet to beChile's next president, versus 11 percent for Golborne and 5percent for Allamand.

But analysts warn Bachelet's large lead will likely ebbduring what looks set to be a heated campaign.

Whoever is elected on Nov. 17 or in a potential run-off onDec. 15 will face demands for improved distribution of a miningbonanza in the world's No. 1 copper producer.

While Chile's economy grew a robust 5.6 percent last yearand unemployment is at a six-year low, the country has thesteepest income inequality among Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development states.

Bachelet on Wednesday centered her speech on combatinginequality, saying deep reforms were needed for Chile to becomea developed country. Education, energy policy and wages are keyelectoral issues.

Chile's open economy and its solid institutions are expectedto remain broadly intact regardless of who governs until 2018.

A single mother of three and a victim of torture underAugusto Pinochet's dictatorship, Bachelet was one ofconservative Chile's most unusual leaders since the return todemocracy in 1990.

Critics said too much of her appeal was based onpersonality. Others in the wide-ranging leftist bloc blasted herfor not pushing through bolder social reforms.

Bachelet's legacy was tainted by a slow response onproviding aid and halting looting after a devastating8.8-magnitude earthquake hit at the end of her term in February2010.

She faced sharp criticism over the failure of the navy'scatastrophe-alert system to warn of the ensuing tsunami, leavinghundreds who survived the quake to be engulfed by huge wavesthat followed.